Today, readers are responding to news that the federal government will support the Canadian media sector with a $595-million package over five years.
Newspapers are bundled after being printed.HILARY SWIFT/The New York Times News Service
This move seems to me to be disturbingly significant and even cynical. ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’ - booboobear3
Canadians news organizations have been in free-fall since the introduction of the internet. The introduction of the proposed measures will help sustain a free and independent news media here in Canada. - River City
I sure hope some funding gets restored to the increasingly beleaguered CBC. We need a true national network. - Jimpse
This is all wrong. Media outlets receiving government funds might as well be called “TASS” as in Soviet days. Goodbye independent journalism. Why not make it a permanent 50% tax credit on subscriptions, allowing for taxpayers who are footing the bill to select the media outlets that deserve the support? - Bobby McGee1
It’s very early in the morning, so my brain may not be fully functioning but why not a tax credit for every newspaper subscription you have. The amount of money is not huge, but it might encourage more people to subscribe, if newspapers were able to advertise that you could claim a tax credit with a subscription. - JeffSpooner
In response to JeffSpooner:
That is a very intriguing idea, and perhaps worth considering. - Doug Lippay
How can we have a free and open society when media companies livelihoods are dependant on being nice to the government. Canadians are already handing over $16 billion dollars every 10 years to the CBC. Doing away with the CBC would have been a better option as the reasons for creating CBC in the first place don’t exist anymore. - Jack Reacher
This is going to cause an immediate chill on news outlets criticizing the government for fear they won’t qualify for the subsidy. And the Liberal government takes another step towards socialist dictatorship. - Freshycat
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